Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Sells 1,283 Shares of Spotify Technology $SPOT

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC decreased its stake in Spotify Technology (NYSE:SPOT) by 21.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,581 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,283 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Spotify Technology were worth $2,660,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SPOT. Deltec Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Spotify Technology during the 4th quarter worth about $436,000. Advisors Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Spotify Technology by 43.1% in the 4th quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 824 shares of the company’s stock valued at $479,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Spotify Technology by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,034,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $600,578,000 after acquiring an additional 28,331 shares during the period. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. boosted its stake in Spotify Technology by 210.8% during the 4th quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. now owns 72,142 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,894,000 after acquiring an additional 48,933 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sava Infond d.o.o. grew its holdings in Spotify Technology by 57.4% during the fourth quarter. Sava Infond d.o.o. now owns 960 shares of the company’s stock valued at $557,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Spotify Technology

In other news, CEO Gustav Soderstrom sold 20,833 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.52, for a total value of $9,864,842.16. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 20,609 shares in the company, valued at $9,758,773.68. The trade was a 50.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Alex Norstrom sold 5,436 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $479.51, for a total value of $2,606,616.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 69,989 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,560,425.39. This represents a 7.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Spotify Technology Stock Performance

Shares of SPOT opened at $444.49 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $91.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.11, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.70. Spotify Technology has a twelve month low of $405.00 and a twelve month high of $785.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $500.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $547.72.

Spotify Technology (NYSE:SPOT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.16 by $2.00. Spotify Technology had a net margin of 13.16% and a return on equity of 31.35%. The company had revenue of $5.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.88 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Spotify Technology will post 15.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Key Headlines Impacting Spotify Technology

Here are the key news stories impacting Spotify Technology this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 beat on users, revenue and operating income — Spotify reported stronger-than-expected MAU and premium subscriber growth and topped EPS/revenue estimates, which supports the long-term growth story. Business Wire Q1 Release
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic content expansion — Spotify added Peloton fitness classes to Premium globally and is pushing into video/fitness content, which could diversify revenue and improve engagement/margins over time. Bloomberg: Peloton Partnership
• Positive Sentiment: Universal Music’s capital moves include a larger buyback — Universal said it will sell half its Spotify stake but also expand its buyback program to €1bn; the buyback component is supportive for shareholder value even as the stake sale raises near-term supply concerns. Yahoo: Universal Music
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support remains in places — some firms reaffirmed buy/overweight ratings and at least one (Rosenblatt) issued a contrarian upgrade; Erste even nudged up EPS forecasts, showing disagreement among analysts about the near-term pullback.
• Neutral Sentiment: AI spending: near-term drag, possible long-term catalyst — Management’s heavy AI investments are weighing on short-term margins, but some analysts argue they could trigger a future upgrade cycle if they accelerate product/monetization. MSN: AI investments
• Neutral Sentiment: Content/labeling debate around AI-generated music — User-created tools and questions about labeling AI music are getting attention; this is a reputational/regulatory issue to watch but not an immediate earnings driver. Digital Trends: AI labeling
• Negative Sentiment: Weak Q2 guidance is the main catalyst for the recent selloff — Spotify guided Q2 operating income and premium-subscriber growth below Street expectations, which triggered sharp downside in sentiment despite the Q1 beat. Reuters: Q2 guidance
• Negative Sentiment: Ad-revenue softness and slowing growth worries — Advertiser revenue missed expectations/appears soft, raising concerns about near-term top-line momentum and valuation. MarketBeat: Ad slump
• Negative Sentiment: Broad analyst target cuts — Multiple firms trimmed price targets (Cantor Fitzgerald, Barclays, JPMorgan, Goldman, Wells Fargo, Guggenheim and others), reflecting lower near-term profit expectations and boosting selling pressure. 247WallSt: Price target cuts

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on SPOT. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on shares of Spotify Technology from $750.00 to $720.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Spotify Technology from $700.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price objective on shares of Spotify Technology from $670.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Benchmark dropped their price objective on Spotify Technology from $760.00 to $695.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Pivotal Research reduced their target price on Spotify Technology from $420.00 to $400.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $647.68.

About Spotify Technology

Spotify Technology is a digital audio streaming company best known for its on-demand music service and a growing portfolio of spoken-word content. Founded in Sweden in 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon and launched commercially in 2008, the company offers a cross-platform app that enables users to discover, stream and organize music, podcasts and other audio. Its primary consumer products include a free, ad-supported tier and a paid Spotify Premium subscription that provides ad-free listening, offline playback and higher-quality audio streams.